Foreclosures down but still plaguing CA

Foreclosures continue to trend downward nationwide, but California has one of the highest concentrations of home repossessions in the country, said housing-data provider CoreLogic on Tuesday.

The nation recorded 52,000 foreclosures in May 2013, a 27 percent drop from the same time a year ago, based on figures from the Irvine-based company. What the company calls "shadow inventory" -- seriously delinquent properties, and homes in the foreclosure process or held by banks and not listed -- is at 2 million nationwide, down 18 percent from a year ago.

"We continue to see a sharp drop in foreclosures around the country and with it a decrease in the size of the shadow inventory," said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic, which recently purchased San Diego-based housing data tracker DataQuick. DataQuick provides monthly housing reports to the U-T San Diego.

"Affordability, despite the rise in home prices over the past year, and consumer confidence are big contributors to these positive trends," Nallathambi said in a statement. "We are particularly encouraged by the broad-based nature of the housing market recovery so far in 2013."

Nearly half of foreclosures nationwide are concentrated in five states: Florida, California, Michigan, Texas and Georgia, ranked in order of completed foreclosures. The Golden State logged more than 76,000 foreclosures in the past year.

The San Diego metro area recorded more than 4,800 foreclosures in the past year, ending in May, CoreLogic numbers show. That ranks the local region 12th nationwide in foreclosures, when looking at most-populated metro areas.

Still, housing distress has generally been trending downward in San Diego County. Foreclosures have fallen to a nearly seven-low year -- in light of rising home values, the effects of government intervention and new protections for California consumers, according to a June report from DataQuick.